What do you like to do when you are not working or studying? SLEEP! 🙂 I also read too much, blog, hit the beach with Daniel (which I did today), search for the best iced vanilla latté with whole milk (the current winner: Diedrich Espresso), and crochet.

How does your online class work? It uses a learning management system called Canvas that is similar to Moodle or Blackboard. I login to the site using my school email address and click on the class on which I want to work at that moment. There’s usually a clickable copy of the syllabus and a list of learning modules and I click on one of them to do it. My instructors can create quizzes and tests online which I have until 11:59 p.m. on the due date to take and I can turn work in as well by uploading it to the site. There is almost always a discussion board on which we have to post and frequently, several of the assignments call for us to post something (and sometimes link a file) and then reply to two other classmates’ posts. (We can reply to as many people as we want usually.)

For my Microsoft Office classes, my school has used SNAP for evaluations but thankfully, they are moving away from it because it was a piece of crap last year — it crashed my laptop on a regular basis so I’d have to go do evaluations on the computers in two of the labs on campus in case something happened. I think the worst time was during my Excel/Access class when one of the Access skills exercises crashed 4 of the computers in the lab and then crashed my instructor’s office computer three times! She finally just opened up Access and told me to do some random things so she could give me the points.

Why did you choose Accounting? When I was working at the import brokerage in Montana from 2007 to 2010, they couldn’t find enough work for me to do within my job description so they asked our billing lead if she had anything I could do to help her. She had me help with some of her USDA vet bills twice a week and I found that to be kind of fun. When I had to find another job when I moved to southern California in 2010, most of the admin assistant ones wanted A/R or A/P (accounts receivable or accounts payable) experience and I didn’t know that the vet bills counted. When I moved up to Washington last year, Mom offered to pay for me to take a couple classes and I decided to take Practical Accounting and Excel/Access… and I fell in love.

What goes in your beach bag? I usually have… spare clothes for Daniel/me, Coppertone Waterbabies sunscreen, my Epi-Pen (I’m allergic to bee stings and most beaches here have a yellowjacket problem), my inhaler/spacer, children’s Benadryl (in case I get stung, it’s easier to get Benadryl down in liquid form), towels, talcum powder (yes… the Johnson & Johnson stuff that they think causes ovarian cancer — I don’t use it in my pelvic region and it’s one of the few things that gets sand off quickly which is important when you have sensory issues like mine and Daniel’s), a book, and sand toys for the kid.

Long answer: Kiddo needs someone to school him who understands how to reach him and help him learn in ways that I am not trained to do. All of his primary teachers have Master’s degrees in Education specializing in special education (and rare conditions, in the case of one of them) and have done their teaching hours with kiddos on the spectrum. Additionally, he gets speech/occupational/physical therapy at school and has the chance to be around other kids… which would totally NOT happen if I was homeschooling him because I’m so incredibly introverted and up until recently, kiddo couldn’t sit through a library program or well… anything except maybe AYSO VIP soccer (and I am not soccer mom material). It’s honestly a better fit for him and I’m a happier mama when I get that time to myself while he is in school.

How do you do school and take care of Daniel? I’m lucky enough that I can fit my classes “on the ground” into the hours when Daniel is at school. There have been a handful of times when he’s been sick or on school vacations when my mom hasn’t been able to watch him so I’ll usually just get notes from a classmate on those days. (Thankfully, I didn’t have to miss any quiz days in Accounting this year because those are quizzes I can’t make up, though she drops our three lowest scores so I’d be able to toss a couple of the ones I’d miss.)

As far as homework goes, kiddo LOVES his tablet so I would usually work on things either during his school day or in the evenings when he would be on his tablet or asleep. I plan online tests around his school schedule and when he’s asleep. On weekends, he has the ability to play independently so I’ll usually curl up with my laptop and any appropriate books while I keep an ear out for him.

What recommendations do you have for teaching kids about the church year? This is not my strength so I recommend you check out Jessica Snell’s list of resources, Kendra @ Jenna’s book, The Lazy Liturgical. Given that I run with bloggers who do this legitimately well, I can’t think of anyone else that would be recommended more highly than these three. (Oh yes, Jessica actually edited a series of books on this as well.)

End of the quarter. I am two tests, two quizzes, a discussion post, a report, and an amended PowerPoint presentation away from being done with the quarter. The quizzes, discussion post, and report will be tackled on Sunday. PowerPoint will be amended either tomorrow or Saturday. The tests will be taken on Monday and Tuesday. After that, I AM DONE!!!

Unbelievable. I’ve been getting a lot of “On This Day” things on Facebook about Daniel this week because it has been 8 years (as of the 7th) since we were able to bring him home from the hospital. It’s so amazing to think that my tiny baby is now only a foot shorter than I am!

Getting fur out of my keyboard. Homer, my gorgeous grey loaner cat, is being extra affectionate tonight which is wonderful… except that my keyboard now has quite a bit of fur in it! *goes off to find a can of compressed air to clean it*

My exhaustion level. Because of the holiday on Monday, I had a huge amount due on Tuesday. I tried to space it out as much as I could but it just took FOREVER to do everything that was due that day. I even had one assignment due at 11:55 p.m. that I had to turn in even though I knew it wasn’t my best work because I just hit a wall in brainpower and energy. There was nothing I could have done to improve it or make it better when I hit send on my discussion post for it and even though I could have looked at what other people had done and used some of their tricks, I just could not force myself to do any more work.

I got my grade on Thursday morning: 19/20 which was better than I was expecting. Then again, my instructor for the class has me for two “on the ground” classes this quarter (ones that meet in person) and she has watched me come to class looking like death warmed over.

An improvement? Daniel still does wake up in the middle of the night… but he’s gotten SO much better at going back to sleep in his own bed. He’ll do it largely on his own… with the exception of last night when he threw a tantrum about this with banshee-level screaming (6 inches from my head) at 2 a.m. because I moved him from my bed to his. NOTHING (short of calling in an old priest and a young priest to perform an exorcism) would calm him down so I got to lie in bed and listen to him howl, knowing that he was waking up my parents and I was helpless to get him to stop. Lovely.

Praying for a calmer night. He also had a massive meltdown today so hopefully he tired himself out sufficiently?

Summer plans. I was able to register for the online version of the Communications class I need to graduate. (It was the reason for the stupid placement test I had to take last week. Ugh.) I’ll be just taking that class (though it’s 5 credits so it’s not a small class) and also working through the Business English textbook to get ready to challenge both quarters of it in the fall and winter. The co-chairs of my program are not incredibly happy that I want to do this but both of them have had me in classes so I hope they realize that when I put it in my mind to something, I pursue it wholeheartedly and I crush it. I do have to pay for both classes even if I successfully challenge them but I’ll have resident tuition by that point so it will be infinitely cheaper than it is now.

Political take. I haven’t been blogging about politics since I returned from my Lenten break and the reason for that is that I honestly have too much on my mind and on my plate to provide any thoughtful discourse. I know it might not seem like it but I *DO* actually think out what I have to say and put effort into researching both sides of an issue. I simply do not have time to really do that this quarter.

Birthday girl. So tomorrow is my 37th birthday. I pondered doing video takes like I did last year but I’m dealing with cold/allergies/asthma exacerbation so I’m feeling like I want to just go with the flow this year and do normal takes.

Plans for my natal feast. I’m headed to Anacortes with a friend tomorrow who wants to show me some of their favorite places and we have my evil twin and his long-suffering wife coming to dinner on Saturday night. My BFF Rebecca’s present arrived today ($tarbux — she knows me well 🙂 ) and I have the promise of gift cards to Old Navy and Kohl’s from my parents so I can start rebuilding my professional wardrobe.

Danielism #2. When I told him that it was time for his evening meds, he raced downstairs ahead of me. When I got to the kitchen, he handed me his peanut butter jar and a spoon and said, “Pee boah meds shower.” (Translation: “peanut butter, meds, shower”.) It’s the order of the starting things for his bedtime routine so it was nice to hear him tell me that part of his schedule.

Because cute. Usually, after he gets his shower, he goes and hangs out with my mom while she watches The Big Bang Theory so I can have my shower and not have to worry about him doing things like putting kitty litter in the bleach dispenser of the washer or climbing on the roof. Anyway, I ended up taking my shower early last Friday (before he got home from school) so I was just sitting in my room listening for him when I heard him heading toward my mom’s room. Then it got quiet. About 15 minutes later, he came to my room and told me he wanted milk. As I was walking downstairs past my mom’s room, I saw his tablet and two of his blankies on her bed. Apparently, he automatically took everything in there after his shower because that’s what he does (almost) every day and it was time. Mom was in heaven because apparently, he was being extra cuddly that night.

Looking out my window… dark. It was cool and rainy for most of the day. (In the Pacific Northwest? SHOCKER!!!)

I am thinking… about the PowerPoint homework on which I am procrastinating.

I am thankful… to have my problem set for Accounting done so I don’t have to figure it out before class. I’ll deal with my Chapter 20 outline instead!

One of my favorite things… tulips. It’s probably good I live where I do.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes were a black cardigan, blue-green fitted tee, black/white striped skirt, black tights, and black flats. I jettisoned everything but the shirt when I got home and tossed on jeans and flip-flops.

Looking out my window… sunny and around 40F. It’s a nice change from mornings when it’s 15F when I leave the house with a high in the 20’s.

I am thinking… about various homework assignments that are due in the next week.

I am thankful… that my kiddo FINALLY went to sleep around 1 a.m. after tantruming on and off for almost 9 hours. #autismproblems #ADHDproblems

One of my favorite things… soft grey kitties like the one asleep in the cat bed on my desk.

I am wearing… a long-sleeved Cougars shirt and jeans. Church clothes this morning were a charcoal grey top, my black slacks, and my black boots.

I am creating…

I am reading…My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live by my friend Maria Johnson. I got to know her through podcasting stuff on SQPN and am really jazzed to finally get to read her book after gifting it to a number of people.

I am hoping… to finish my book today in between all of the homework on my plate.

I am learning… how to get kitty litter out of the bleach receptacle of the washing machine and the fabric softener receptacle on the dryer. *glares at Daniel* (The answer involves a toothbrush, an F crochet hook, and a dust buster.)

In my kitchen… stroganoff for dinner tonight. Yay!!! Good leftovers this week!!!

Looking out my window… dark. We’ve had rain on and off today and it’s supposed to be cold enough tonight for any moisture on the ground to freeze into ice. I’m really hoping that my route to school isn’t an ice rink tomorrow morning!

I am thinking… about things for my Records Management class.

I am thankful… to be back to school. Though I’ll be very busy this quarter, it will give me something to focus on as I’m working through everything involved with the divorce.

One of my favorite things… quiet. Unfortunately, my precious sweetling is being obnoxious and screaming right now. *sighs* I’m about to resort to the clean version of THAT book.

I am wearing… jammies. Church clothes today were this dress and black cardigan, black tights, and my black flats. The rest of the day found me in jeans and my Cougars shirt. (Yes, I’m a Huskies fan and I was wearing a shirt from the Evil School. In my defense, it’s a warm shirt!!!)

I am creating… an Excel file with all the pertinent calculations for filing my taxes. (Self-employment taxes suck. Thankfully, there’s TurboTax Home and Business.)

I am reading…My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live by Maria Morera Johnson.

I am hoping… the little beast stops screaming before I lose my hearing.

I am learning… about retail business accounting this quarter. Wheeeeee!!!

Shared Quote… “Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we search for in fiction is not so much reality but the epiphany of truth.”
— Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran